Building-wall.



I A. LYTH.

Patented Feb. 4,1919.

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ALFRED LYTH, F BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

BUILDING-WALL.

To all whom it may concern: Beit'known that I, ALFRED Lr'rrr a cit zen'of the United States, residing at '15 In walls of this typeas-heretofore constructed each course of building bldcks has usuallybeen seated on its underside in, a

bed of mortar which consisted of several sections arranged in differentplanes. This '20 is objectionable owing to the fact that the operatorhas to spread difi'erent beds of mortar which not only requires morecare and consumes -'more time but also renders it practically impossibleto make the several bed sections of uniforms-thickness with the resultthat the buildingblocks placed upon .these sections of mortar bed willnot be evenly or uniformly sup-ported and thereby reduce the strength ofthe wall accordin-gly. The objects of "this invention are to soconstruct a-wall of vertically overlapping courses of building blocks,bricks or tiles that each course of blocks will rest I on its undersideupon a single layer or bed 375 of mortar which is straight and ;even andextends horizontally acrossthe upper surfaces of two adjacent lowercourses of building blocks, which construction requires the mason orbrick layerwhen setting the building blocks to'spread only one bed jointof mortar at a time and thus obtain a mortar bearing which is more trueand even and permits each course of blocks to rest uniformly over itsentire underside on the 45. mortar, whereby a stronger and better wall.is roduced than'is possible in a wall in which two or more mortar bedshave to be I spread in difierent planes in order to produce a jointbetween adjacent (layers of blocks; andalso to so construct a wall thatno mortar joint will extend through the entire thickness of the wall butwill be:

stopped by two or more webs of tile and by an air space.

1, 2 and 3 are perspective VIGWS'Of walls Specification of LettersPatent.

tially' L.shaped form and'provided with a .h or'izontal leg 1 and avertical leg 2. These blocks are preferably made'hollow so that.

-voids 3 which areseparated from each other In the accompanyingdrawings: Figures.

, Patented Feb-4,1919.

App1icationfiledMay9,1917. Serial No. ream.

constructed in accordance with my invention, Fig. 1 representing a wallwhich is comparatively narrow or thin, Fig. 2 a wall of medium thicknessand Fig. 3a wall which is comparatively wide.

Similar characters of reference indicate V corresponding partsthroughout the several views. 7 r

As shown in-Fig. l, the wall comprises a plurality of courses ofbuilding blocks, bricks or tiles which are superposed one above anotherin such manner that they overlapvertically and therebyjform a lock jointbetween the several courses when the wall is completed and tied or boundtogether with mortar or cement.

Each of the building blocks is of substanthey are light and strongfor'which purpose each block is provided with a plurality of horizontallongitudinal cells, opening or by intervening webs or partitions i inany. suitable or approved manner.

When laying the lowermost course of such blocks or tiles horizontallythe underside of this course is placed upon the foundation 8 5 and acourse of starting or ada ting'blocks a 5 is also placed on thisfoundation in front of the vertical face of the horizontal legs of thiscourse of L-sha-ped blocks which starting blocks are of a height equalto the height of the horizontal legs of the L-shaped blocks and of suchwidth that the total width of the upper surface of the horizontal leg ofthis course of L-shaped blocks and the upper surface of the course ofstarting blocks is substantially equal to the width of the underside ofone of the L-shaped blocks. These starting blocks are also preferablymade hollow by providing the same with a plurality of cells or voids 6which are separated from each other by a web 7.

The brick layer or operator now spreads a bed of mortar 8 over the uppersides of the horizontal legs of the lower course of L-shaped blocks andthe upper surface of the course of starting blocks which bed forms asingle or continuous mass and is straight and of uniform thicknessthroughout its entire-area. 7 The second course of L-shaped buildin 110blocks is now laid by resting the horizonta 'undersides of these blockson the bed of rot laid according mortar 8 with the outer sides of thevertical legs of these blocks arranged vertically in line with the outersides of the starting blocks and the vertical sides of the horizontallegs of the second coursefacing the inner vertical sides of the uprightlegs of the first course of L-shaped blocks. The thickness of the bed ofmortar 8 is such that the same together with the hei ht of thehorizontal legs of the second L-shaped course of blocks resting thereonis equal to the height of the upright legs of the first course of Lshaped blocks above its junction with the horizontal leg, whereby theupper surface of the horizontal legs of the second L-shaped course andthe upper surface of the upright leg of the first course of L-shapedblocks are arranged horizontally in line. The second bed of mortar 8 isnow spread over the tops of the upright legs of the first L-shapedcourse and the tops of the horitontal legs of the second course ofL-shaped blocks which bed is also straight and of uniform thickness.Upon this last mentioned bed of mortar the third course of L-shapedblocks is set with the underside of these blocks engaging with the topof this bed and so that the outer vertical sides of the upright legs ofthis third course are vertically in line with the outer vertical sidesof the blocks of the first course and the upper sides of the horizontallegs of the third course are horizontally in line with the tops of theupright legs of the second course.

Another bed of mortar 8 is now spread a on the upper sides of theupright legs of t esecond course and the upper sides of the horizontallegs of the third course and a fourth course of building blocks issuperi1nposed upon this last mentioned bed ofmortar in the same manneras that described with reference to the preceding courses, thisoperation being continued until the desired height of wall has beenreached.

It will be noted that when a wall has been to this method each course ofblocks overlaps and interlocks with the blocks above and below the sameand that only one bed of mortar is employed for each course of blocks inorder to form a joint with blocks below the same, which bed extendshorizontally over the entire underside of this course and is capable ofbeing spread more easily and quickly by the ma sons or brick layers,thereby effecting a saving in cost, and it also renders it possible toprovide a .practically even and uniform bearing for each course ofblocks, thereby insuring the maximum strength in the wall whencompleted.

he upper and lower horizontal surfaces of the building blocks which areadapted to hear on the mortar bed which joins them are preferablyprovided with undercut grooves 9, 10 so as to enable the binding mortarto obtain an anchorage on these surfaces, and the outer vertical sidesofthese locks are also preferably though not necessarily provided withundercut grooves 11 so as to permit plaster to be anchored thereon whenfinishing the exposed surfaces of the wall or the same may be otherwisefinished as desired.

When laying these building blocks in horizontal courses the blocks. ofeach course are preferably so arranged that the vertical mortar joints12 between the blocks in one course are out of line with the verticalmortar joints between the blocks in an adjacent course in the usual andwell known manner.

In this construction all the mortar johns are so broken or separatedfrom each other that direct lines of mortar entirely through the wallboth horizontally and vertically are avoided, thereby practicallyeliminating the possibility of moisture penetrating or being carriedthroughthe Wall through the medium of the mortar joints.

It will be noted that this construction obviates the disadvantages of awall in which each block iii setting requires two or more distinctmortar or bed joints which are arranged in different planes inasmuch asthe spreading of such plurality of mortar joints uniformly and of eventhickness is practically impossible and therefore one may be solid" andthe other loose, thereby providing an uneven bearing of the blocks onthe different planes of mortar which materially detracts from thestrength of the Wall and permits leakage of moisture through the light partsof the joint between such blocks.

11 the erection of a wall by means of these hollow blocks embodying myinvention all the vertical Webs of the blocks are arranged in directperpendicular alinemcnt, thereby obtaining a wall of maximum strengthand durability. This construction is applicable throughout theconstruction of the building including all corners and jambs andopenings for doors and windows.

In the practical use of this invention it is desirable, within certainlimits, to construct thebuilding blocks of varying widths to suit theparticular thickness of wall which it is desired to erect, for instance,as shown in Fig. 1 the building blocks are made comparatively narrow andsuitable for building a wall which is eight inches in thickness,v

that shown in Fig. 2, is suitable for building a wall which is twelveinches thick, and that shown in Fig. 3 is more particularly adapted fora wall having a thickness of sixteen inches, but in each. of theseapplications of my invention each mortar joint for adjacent locking andbinding to ether by one operation courses of blocks is effected ofspreading mortar.

In each of. the several constructions of my new-5,491

improved building blocks shown in the drawings the horizontal leg isprovided at its outer end with a plurality of comparatively deeplongitudinal grooves 13 which in the completed Wall are arrangedopposite the vertical leg of an adjacent block and thereby form betweenthe opposing vertical surfaces of the two blocks an air space ofsubstantial dimensions Which is ainple and provides effective means forpreventing moisture from penetrating through the wall, thereby renderingthe same damp proof.

Inasmuch as these blocks can be made of much larger dimensions thanordinary brick or tile it is possible for an operator to lay a greaterpart of the Wall in a given time, thereby effecting a considerableeconomy in the cost of construction.

I claim as my invention:

A building Wall comprising a plurality of superposed blocks each ofwhich is of L- shaped form in cross section and provided with ahorizontal leg and a vertical leg, and the outer end of the horizontalleg having a plurality of comparatively deep longitudinal grooves whichare arranged opposite the vertical leg of an adjacent block and formtherebetween an air space for preventing 1noisture from penetrating theWall.

ALFRED LYTH.

